Harsh weather disrupts Lunar New Year flights in South Korea

SEOUL (Reuters) - Nearly 500 flights to and from the South Korean tourist island of Jeju have been cancelled because of harsh winter weather, authorities said on Tuesday, disrupting the final day of the Lunar New Year holiday for travellers.

All 466 domestic flights and 10 international flights scheduled to fly to and from Jeju International Airport were cancelled, an airport spokesman told Reuters.

Korean Air Lines confirmed it had cancelled 88 of its daily flights in and out of the island.

Tuesday saw some of the coldest temperatures of the season, and heavy snow and strong winds were expected to hit southern parts of the country including Jeju.

Weather authorities issued cold wave alerts for most of the country, with morning lows dropping to minus 16.4 Celsius (2.5 Fahrenheit) in Seoul and to minus 25.5C in the northern county of Cheorwon, according to Yonhap news agency.

Yonhap also reported that hundreds of ferry voyages across the country were also cancelled.

Tuesday was the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday, which is one of South Korea's two biggest holidays.

(Reporting by Hyun Young Yi and Josh Smith; Editing by Robert Birsel)